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Search indexed NASA NTRS and DOE OSTI research on propulsion, heat transfer, battery materials and energy systems. Follow report and document links to the original sources.

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DOE OSTI2013

H-ATLAS: THE COSMIC ABUNDANCE OF DUST FROM THE FAR-INFRARED BACKGROUND POWER SPECTRUM

We present a measurement of the angular power spectrum of the cosmic far-infrared background (CFIRB) anisotropies in one of the extragalactic fields of the Herschel Astrophysical Terahertz Large Area Survey at 250, 350, and 500 {mu}m bands. Consistent with recent measurements of the CFIRB power spectrum in Herschel-SPIRE maps, we confirm the existence of a clear one-halo term of galaxy clustering on arcminute angular scales with large-scale two-halo term of clustering at 30 arcmin to angular scales of a few degrees. The power spectrum at the largest angular scales, especially at 250 {mu}m, is contaminated by the Galactic cirrus. The angular power spectrum is modeled using a conditional luminosity function approach to describe the spatial distribution of unresolved galaxies that make up the bulk of the CFIRB. Integrating over the dusty galaxy population responsible for the background anisotropies, we find that the cosmic abundance of dust, relative to the critical density, to be between {Omega}{sub dust} = 10{sup -6} and 8 Multiplication-Sign 10{sup -6} in the redshift range z {approx} 0-3. This dust abundance is consistent with estimates of the dust content in the universe using quasar reddening and magnification measurements in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2016

Where stars form: inside-out growth and coherent star formation from HST hα maps of 3200 galaxies across the main sequence at 0.7 < z < 1.5

We present Hα maps at 1 kpc spatial resolution for star-forming galaxies at z ∼ 1, made possible by the Wide Field Camera 3 grism on Hubble Space Telescope (HST). Employing this capability over all five 3D-HST/CANDELS fields provides a sample of 3200 galaxies enabling a division into subsamples based on stellar mass and star formation rate (SFR). By creating deep stacked Hα images, we reach surface brightness limits of 1 × 10{sup −18} erg s{sup −1} cm{sup −2} arcsec{sup −2}, allowing us to map the distribution of ionized gas to ∼10 kpc for typical L* galaxies at this epoch. We find that the spatial extent of the Hα distribution increases with stellar mass as r{sub Hα}=1.5(M{sub ∗}/10{sup 10}M{sub ⊙}){sup 0.23} kpc. The Hα emission is more extended than the stellar continuum emission, consistent with inside-out assembly of galactic disks. This effect grows stronger with mass as r{sub Hα}/r{sub ∗}=1.1 (M{sub ∗}/10{sup 10}M{sub ⊙}){sup 0.054}. We map the Hα distribution as a function of SFR(IR+UV) and find evidence for “coherent star formation” across the SFR–M {sub *} plane: above the main sequence (MS), Hα is enhanced at all radii; below the MS, Hα is depressed at all radii. This suggests that at all masses the physical processes driving the enhancement or suppression of star formation act throughout the disks of galaxies. At high masses (10{sup 10.5}<M{sub ∗}/M{sub ⊙}<10{sup 11}), above the MS, Hα is particularly enhanced in the center, potentially building bulges and/or supermassive black holes. Below the MS, a strong central dip in the EW(Hα), as well as the inferred specific SFR, appears. Importantly, though, across the entirety of the SFR–M {sub *} plane, the absolute SFR as traced by Hα is always centrally peaked, even in galaxies below the MS.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2015

Accelerating dark energy models of the universe in anisotropic Bianchi type space-times and recent observations

Motivated by the increasing evidence for the need of a geometry that resembles Bianchi morphology to explain the observed anisotropy in the WMAP data, we have discussed some features of the Bianchi type universes in the presence of a fluid that wields an anisotropic equation of state (EoS) parameter in general relativity. Such models are of great interest in cosmology in favor of constructing more realistic models than FLRW models with maximally symmetric spatial geometry. Additionally, the interest in such models was promoted in recent years due to the debate that going on the analysis and the interpretation of the WMAP [21, 111, 112] data, whether they need a Bianchi type morphology to be explained successfully [7, 103, 118, 117]. The LLC-WMAP data maps show seven axes well aligned with one another and the direction Virgo. For this reason Bianchi models are important in the study of anisotropies. In the present study of Bianchi type-I, II, III, V and VI{sub 0} space-times, we observe that the EoS for dark energy ω is found to be time-dependent and its existing range for derived models is in good agreement with the recent observations of SNe Ia data [50], SNe Ia data with CMBR anisotropy and galaxy clustering statistics [11] and latest combination of cosmological datasets coming from CMB anisotropies, luminosity distances of high redshift type Ia supernovae and galaxy clustering [21, 51]. It has been suggested that the dark energy that explains the observed accelerating expansion of the universe may arise due to the contribution to the vacuum energy of the EoS in a time dependent background. The cosmological constant Λ is found to be a positive decreasing function of time and it approaches to a small positive value at late time (i.e. the present epoch) which is corroborated by results from recent type Ia supernovae observations.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗
DOE OSTI2014

Observational requirements for Lyα forest tomographic mapping of large-scale structure at z ∼ 2

The z ≳ 2 Lyα forest traces the underlying dark matter distribution on large scales and, given sufficient sightlines, can be used to create three-dimensional (3D) maps of large-scale structures. We examine the observational requirements to construct such maps and estimate the signal-to-noise as a function of exposure time and sightline density. Sightline densities at z = 2.25 are n {sub los} ≈ [360, 1200, 3300] deg{sup –2} at limiting magnitudes of g = [24.0, 24.5, 25.0], resulting in transverse sightline separations of (d ) ≈ [3.6, 1.9, 1.2] h {sup –1} Mpc, which roughly sets the reconstruction scale. We simulate these reconstructions using mock spectra with realistic noise properties and find that spectra with S/N ≈ 4 per angstrom can be used to generate maps that clearly trace the underlying dark matter at overdensities of ρ/(ρ) ∼ 1. For the VLT/VIMOS spectrograph, exposure times t {sub exp} = [4, 6, 10] hr are sufficient for maps with spatial resolution ε{sub 3D} = [5.0, 3.2, 2.3] h {sup –1} Mpc. Assuming ∼250 h {sup –1} Mpc is probed along the line of sight, 1 deg{sup 2} of survey area would cover a comoving volume of ≈10{sup 6} h {sup –3} Mpc{sup 3} at (z) ∼ 2.3, enabling the efficient mapping of large volumes with 8-10 m telescopes. These maps could be used to study galaxy environments, the topology of large-scale structures at high z, and to detect proto-clusters.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2014

Reducing systematic error in weak lensing cluster surveys

Weak lensing provides an important route toward collecting samples of clusters of galaxies selected by mass. Subtle systematic errors in image reduction can compromise the power of this technique. We use the B-mode signal to quantify this systematic error and to test methods for reducing this error. We show that two procedures are efficient in suppressing systematic error in the B-mode: (1) refinement of the mosaic CCD warping procedure to conform to absolute celestial coordinates and (2) truncation of the smoothing procedure on a scale of 10'. Application of these procedures reduces the systematic error to 20% of its original amplitude. We provide an analytic expression for the distribution of the highest peaks in noise maps that can be used to estimate the fraction of false peaks in the weak-lensing κ-signal-to-noise ratio (S/N) maps as a function of the detection threshold. Based on this analysis, we select a threshold S/N = 4.56 for identifying an uncontaminated set of weak-lensing peaks in two test fields covering a total area of ∼3 deg{sup 2}. Taken together these fields contain seven peaks above the threshold. Among these, six are probable systems of galaxies and one is a superposition. We confirm the reliability of these peaks with dense redshift surveys, X-ray, and imaging observations. The systematic error reduction procedures we apply are general and can be applied to future large-area weak-lensing surveys. Our high-peak analysis suggests that with an S/N threshold of 4.5, there should be only 2.7 spurious weak-lensing peaks even in an area of 1000 deg{sup 2}, where we expect ∼2000 peaks based on our Subaru fields.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2015

Ultra-large-scale cosmology in next-generation experiments with single tracers

Future surveys of large-scale structure will be able to measure perturbations on the scale of the cosmological horizon, and so could potentially probe a number of novel relativistic effects that are negligibly small on sub-horizon scales. These effects leave distinctive signatures in the power spectra of clustering observables and, if measurable, would open a new window on relativistic cosmology. We quantify the size and detectability of the effects for the most relevant future large-scale structure experiments: spectroscopic and photometric galaxy redshift surveys, intensity mapping surveys of neutral hydrogen, and radio continuum surveys. Our forecasts show that next-generation experiments, reaching out to redshifts z≃4, will not be able to detect previously undetected general-relativistic effects by using individual tracers of the density field, although the contribution of weak lensing magnification on large scales should be clearly detectable. We also perform a rigorous joint forecast for the detection of primordial non-Gaussianity through the excess power it produces in the clustering of biased tracers on large scales, finding that uncertainties of σ(f{sub NL})∼1−2 should be achievable. We study the level of degeneracy of these large-scale effects with several tracer-dependent nuisance parameters, quantifying the minimal priors on the latter that are needed for an optimal measurement of the former. Finally, we discuss the systematic effects that must be mitigated to achieve this level of sensitivity, and some alternative approaches that should help to improve the constraints. The computational tools developed to carry out this study, which requires the full-sky computation of the theoretical angular power spectra for O(100) redshift bins, as well as realistic models of the luminosity function, are publicly available at http://intensitymapping.physics.ox.ac.uk/codes.html.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2011

Metals at the surface of last scatter

Standard big-bang nucleosynthesis (BBN) predicts only a trace abundance of lithium and no heavier elements, but some alternatives predict a nonzero primordial metallicity. Here we explore whether CMB measurements may set useful constraints to the primordial metallicity and/or whether the standard CMB calculations are robust, within the tolerance of forthcoming CMB maps, to the possibility of primordial metals. Metals would affect the recombination history (and thus CMB power spectra) in three ways: (1) Ly{alpha} photons can be removed (and recombination thus accelerated) by photoionizing metals; (2) The Bowen resonance-fluorescence mechanism may degrade Ly{beta} photons and thus enhance the Ly{beta} escape probability and speed up recombination; (3) Metals could affect the low-redshift tail of the CMB visibility function by providing additional free electrons. The last two of these provide the strongest CMB signal. However, the effects are detectable in the Planck satellite only if the primordial metal abundance is at least a few hundredths of solar for (2) and a few tenths of solar for (3). We thus conclude that Planck will not be able to improve upon current constraints to primordial metallicity, at the level of a thousandth of solar, from the Lyman-{alpha} forest and ultra-metal-poor halo stars, and that the CMB power-spectrum predictions for Planck suffer no uncertainty arising from the possibility that there may be primordial metals.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗
DOE OSTI2016

Shadow of a colossus: A z = 2.44 galaxy protocluster detected in 3D Lyα forest tomographic mapping of the cosmos field

Using moderate-resolution optical spectra from 58 background Lyman-break galaxies and quasars at z∼2.3--3 within a 11.′5 × 13.′5 area of the COSMOS field (∼1200 deg{sup −2} projected area density or ∼2.4 h{sup −1} Mpc mean transverse separation), we reconstruct a 3D tomographic map of the foreground Lyα forest absorption at 2.2 < z < 2.5 with an effective smoothing scale of ϵ{sub 3D}≈2.5 h{sup −1} Mpc comoving. Comparing with 61 coeval galaxies with spectroscopic redshifts in the same volume, we find that the galaxy positions are clearly biased toward regions with enhanced intergalactic medium (IGM) absorption in the tomographic map. We find an extended IGM overdensity with deep absorption troughs at z = 2.45 associated with a recently discovered galaxy protocluster at the same redshift. Based on simulations matched to our data, we estimate the enclosed dark matter mass within this IGM overdensity to be M{sub dm}(z=2.45)=(1.1±0.6)×10{sup 14} h{sup −1}M{sub ⊙}, and argue based on this mass and absorption strength that it will form at least one z ∼ 0 galaxy cluster with M(z=0)=(3±1.5)×10{sup 14} h{sup −1}M{sub ⊙}, although its elongated nature suggests that it will likely collapse into two separate clusters. We also point out a compact overdensity of six MOSDEF galaxies at z = 2.30 within a r∼1 h{sup −1} Mpc radius and Δz ∼ 0.006, which does not appear to have a large associated IGM overdensity. These results demonstrate the potential of Lyα forest tomography on larger volumes to study galaxy properties as a function of environment, as well as revealing the large-scale IGM overdensities associated with protoclusters or other features of large-scale structure.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2012

PROBING PRIMORDIAL NON-GAUSSIANITY WITH WEAK-LENSING MINKOWSKI FUNCTIONALS

We study the cosmological information contained in the Minkowski functionals (MFs) of weak gravitational lensing convergence maps. We show that the MFs provide strong constraints on the local-type primordial non-Gaussianity parameter f {sub NL}. We run a set of cosmological N-body simulations and perform ray-tracing simulations of weak lensing to generate 100 independent convergence maps of a 25 deg{sup 2} field of view for f {sub NL} = -100, 0 and 100. We perform a Fisher analysis to study the degeneracy among other cosmological parameters such as the dark energy equation of state parameter w and the fluctuation amplitude {sigma}{sub 8}. We use fully nonlinear covariance matrices evaluated from 1000 ray-tracing simulations. For upcoming wide-field observations such as those from the Subaru Hyper Suprime-Cam survey with a proposed survey area of 1500 deg{sup 2}, the primordial non-Gaussianity can be constrained with a level of f {sub NL} {approx} 80 and w {approx} 0.036 by weak-lensing MFs. If simply scaled by the effective survey area, a 20,000 deg{sup 2} lensing survey using the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope will yield constraints of f {sub NL} {approx} 25 and w {approx} 0.013. We show that these constraints can be further improved by a tomographic method using source galaxies in multiple redshift bins.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2014

The most luminous z ∼ 9-10 galaxy candidates yet found: The luminosity function, cosmic star-formation rate, and the first mass density estimate at 500 Myr

We present the discovery of four surprisingly bright (H {sub 160} ∼ 26-27 mag AB) galaxy candidates at z ∼ 9-10 in the complete HST CANDELS WFC3/IR GOODS-N imaging data, doubling the number of z ∼ 10 galaxy candidates that are known, just ∼500 Myr after the big bang. Two similarly bright sources are also detected in a reanalysis of the GOODS-S data set. Three of the four galaxies in GOODS-N are significantly detected at 4.5σ-6.2σ in the very deep Spitzer/IRAC 4.5 μm data, as is one of the GOODS-S candidates. Furthermore, the brightest of our candidates (at z = 10.2 ± 0.4) is robustly detected also at 3.6 μm (6.9σ), revealing a flat UV spectral energy distribution with a slope β = –2.0 ± 0.2, consistent with demonstrated trends with luminosity at high redshift. Thorough testing and use of grism data excludes known low-redshift contamination at high significance, including single emission-line sources, but as-yet unknown low redshift sources could provide an alternative solution given the surprising luminosity of these candidates. Finding such bright galaxies at z ∼ 9-10 suggests that the luminosity function for luminous galaxies might evolve in a complex way at z > 8. The cosmic star formation rate density still shows, however, an order-of-magnitude increase from z ∼ 10 to z ∼ 8 since the dominant contribution comes from low-luminosity sources. Based on the IRAC detections, we derive galaxy stellar masses at z ∼ 10, finding that these luminous objects are typically 10{sup 9} M {sub ☉}. This allows for a first estimate of the cosmic stellar mass density at z ∼ 10 resulting in log{sub 10} ρ{sub ∗}=4.7{sub −0.8}{sup +0.5} M {sub ☉} Mpc{sup –3} for galaxies brighter than M {sub UV} ∼ –18. The remarkable brightness, and hence luminosity, of these z ∼ 9-10 candidates will enable deep spectroscopy to determine their redshift and nature, and highlights the opportunity for the James Webb Space Telescope to map the buildup of galaxies at redshifts much earlier than z ∼ 10.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2012

SMOOTH(ER) STELLAR MASS MAPS IN CANDELS: CONSTRAINTS ON THE LONGEVITY OF CLUMPS IN HIGH-REDSHIFT STAR-FORMING GALAXIES

We perform a detailed analysis of the resolved colors and stellar populations of a complete sample of 323 star-forming galaxies (SFGs) at 0.5 < z < 1.5 and 326 SFGs at 1.5 < z < 2.5 in the ERS and CANDELS-Deep region of GOODS-South. Galaxies were selected to be more massive than 10{sup 10} M{sub Sun} and have specific star formation rates (SFRs) above 1/t{sub H} . We model the seven-band optical ACS + near-IR WFC3 spectral energy distributions of individual bins of pixels, accounting simultaneously for the galaxy-integrated photometric constraints available over a longer wavelength range. We analyze variations in rest-frame color, stellar surface mass density, age, and extinction as a function of galactocentric radius and local surface brightness/density, and measure structural parameters on luminosity and stellar mass maps. We find evidence for redder colors, older stellar ages, and increased dust extinction in the nuclei of galaxies. Big star-forming clumps seen in star formation tracers are less prominent or even invisible in the inferred stellar mass distributions. Off-center clumps contribute up to {approx}20% to the integrated SFR, but only 7% or less to the integrated mass of all massive SFGs at z {approx} 1 and z {approx} 2, with the fractional contributions being a decreasing function of wavelength used to select the clumps. The stellar mass profiles tend to have smaller sizes and M20 coefficients, and higher concentration and Gini coefficients than the light distribution. Our results are consistent with an inside-out disk growth scenario with brief (100-200 Myr) episodic local enhancements in star formation superposed on the underlying disk. Alternatively, the young ages of off-center clumps may signal inward clump migration, provided this happens efficiently on the order of an orbital timescale.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2016

Lensing-induced morphology changes in CMB temperature maps in modified gravity theories

Lensing of the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) changes the morphology of pattern of temperature fluctuations, so topological descriptors such as Minkowski Functionals can probe the gravity model responsible for the lensing. We show how the recently introduced two-to-two and three-to-one kurt-spectra (and their associated correlation functions), which depend on the power spectrum of the lensing potential, can be used to probe modified gravity theories such as f ( R ) theories of gravity and quintessence models. We also investigate models based on effective field theory, which include the constant-Ω model, and low-energy Hořava theories. Estimates of the cumulative signal-to-noise for detection of lensing-induced morphology changes, reaches O(10{sup 3}) for the future planned CMB polarization mission COrE{sup +}. Assuming foreground removal is possible to ℓ{sub max}=3000, we show that many modified gravity theories can be rejected with a high level of significance, making this technique comparable in power to galaxy weak lensing or redshift surveys. These topological estimators are also useful in distinguishing lensing from other scattering secondaries at the level of the four-point function or trispectrum. Examples include the kinetic Sunyaev-Zel'dovich (kSZ) effect which shares, with lensing, a lack of spectral distortion. We also discuss the complication of foreground contamination from unsubtracted point sources.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2013

MEASUREMENT OF 21 cm BRIGHTNESS FLUCTUATIONS AT z {approx} 0.8 IN CROSS-CORRELATION

In this Letter, 21 cm intensity maps acquired at the Green Bank Telescope are cross-correlated with large-scale structure traced by galaxies in the WiggleZ Dark Energy Survey. The data span the redshift range 0.6 < z < 1 over two fields totaling {approx}41 deg. sq. and 190 hr of radio integration time. The cross-correlation constrains {Omega}{sub HI} b{sub HI} r = [0.43 {+-} 0.07(stat.) {+-} 0.04(sys.)] Multiplication-Sign 10{sup -3}, where {Omega}{sub HI} is the neutral hydrogen (H I) fraction, r is the galaxy-hydrogen correlation coefficient, and b{sub HI} is the H I bias parameter. This is the most precise constraint on neutral hydrogen density fluctuations in a challenging redshift range. Our measurement improves the previous 21 cm cross-correlation at z {approx} 0.8 both in its precision and in the range of scales probed.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2020

Learning Spectral Templates for Photometric Redshift Estimation from Broadband Photometry

Estimating redshifts from broadband photometry is often limited by how accurately we can map the colors of galaxies to an underlying spectral template. Current techniques utilize spectrophotometric samples of galaxies or spectra derived from spectral synthesis models. Both of these approaches have their limitations: either the sample sizes are small and often not representative of the diversity of galaxy colors, or the model colors can be biased (often as a function of wavelength), which introduces systematics in the derived redshifts. In this paper, we learn the underlying spectral energy distributions from an ensemble of ∼100 K galaxies with measured redshifts and colors. We show that we are able to reconstruct emission and absorption lines at a significantly higher resolution than the broadband filters used to measure the photometry for a sample of 20 spectral templates. We find that our training algorithm reduces the fraction of outliers in the derived photometric redshifts by up to 28%, bias up to 91%, and scatter up to 25%, when compared to estimates using a standard set of spectral templates. We discuss the current limitations of this approach and its applicability for recovering the underlying properties of galaxies. Our derived templates and the code used to produce these results are publicly available in a dedicated Github repository: https://github.com/dirac-institute/photoz-template-learning.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2017

Modeling CMB lensing cross correlations with CLEFT

A new generation of surveys will soon map large fractions of sky to ever greater depths and their science goals can be enhanced by exploiting cross correlations between them. In this paper we study cross correlations between the lensing of the CMB and biased tracers of large-scale structure at high z. We motivate the need for more sophisticated bias models for modeling increasingly biased tracers at these redshifts and propose the use of perturbation theories, specifically Convolution Lagrangian Effective Field Theory (CLEFT). Since such signals reside at large scales and redshifts, they can be well described by perturbative approaches. We compare our model with the current approach of using scale independent bias coupled with fitting functions for non-linear matter power spectra, showing that the latter will not be sufficient for upcoming surveys. Furthermore, we illustrate our ideas by estimating σ 8 from the auto- and cross-spectra of mock surveys, finding that CLEFT returns accurate and unbiased results at high z. We report on uncertainties due to the redshift distribution of the tracers, and several avenues for future development.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2015

Extragalactic sources in Cosmic Microwave Background maps

We discuss the potential of a next generation space-borne CMB experiment for studies of extragalactic sources with reference to COrE+, a project submitted to ESA in response to the call for a Medium-size mission (M4). We consider three possible options for the telescope size: 1 m, 1.5 m and 2 m (although the last option is probably impractical, given the M4 boundary conditions). The proposed instrument will be far more sensitive than Planck and will have a diffraction-limited angular resolution. These properties imply that even the 1 m telescope option will perform substantially better than Planck for studies of extragalactic sources. The source detection limits as a function of frequency have been estimated by means of realistic simulations taking into account all the relevant foregrounds. Predictions for the various classes of extragalactic sources are based on up-to-date models. The most significant improvements over Planck results are presented for each option. COrE+ will provide much larger samples of truly local star-forming galaxies (by about a factor of 8 for the 1 m telescope, of 17 for 1.5 m, of 30 for 2 m), making possible analyses of the properties of galaxies (luminosity functions, dust mass functions, star formation rate functions, dust temperature distributions, etc.) across the Hubble sequence. Even more interestingly, COrE+ will detect, at |b| > 30°, thousands of strongly gravitationally lensed galaxies (about 2,000, 6,000 and 13,000 for the 1 m, 1.5 m and 2 m options, respectively). Such large samples are of extraordinary astrophysical and cosmological value in many fields. Moreover, COrE+ high frequency maps will be optimally suited to pick up proto-clusters of dusty galaxies, i.e. to investigate the evolution of large scale structure at larger redshifts than can be reached by other means. Thanks to its high sensitivity COrE+ will also yield a spectacular advance in the blind detection of extragalactic sources in polarization: we expect that it will detect up to a factor of 40 (1 m option) or of 160 (1.5 m option) more radio sources than can be detected by Planck and, for the first time, from several tens (1 m option) to a few hundreds (1.5 m option) of star forming galaxies. This will open a new window for studies of the global properties of magnetic fields in star forming galaxies and of their relationships with star formation rates.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2019

Photometric Redshifts of Emission-line Galaxies Using Ramp Filters

Broadband photometric redshifts are routinely obtained for galaxies to estimate their distances. While effective for many uses, the common resolution in z of 0.01–0.02 is too coarse for detailed large-scale structure mapping, particularly in low-density volumes where the galaxy distribution is least understood. To map galaxies in these low-density volumes, and noting that the percentage of galaxies having emission tends to rise as number density decreases, we have designed a filter system to photometrically measure the redshifts of galaxies with emission. The system consists of two “ramp” filters that cover a common wavelength range with transmission curves sloping from blue to red and from red to blue respectively. This causes the intensity of the image through either filter to be a function of the wavelength of the emission line. A third filter with a bandpass to the side is used to measure and remove the continuum. We have obtained a set of such filters that are tuned for isolating Hα in the redshift range of 3,000–9,000 km s{sup −1}. Simulated photometry, applied to spectra of 197 emission-line galaxies from the SDSS, shows the accuracy of the method to be between 250 and 620 km s{sup −1}, depending on line strength. Actual photometry of a sample of 16 active galaxies measured their redshifts with an accuracy of 573 km s{sup −1}. This is approximately an order of magnitude more accurate than broadband photometric redshifts. We discuss the errors inherent in this method and present ways to modify the filter set to further improve accuracy.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2012

Improved constraints on the expansion rate of the Universe up to z ∼ 1.1 from the spectroscopic evolution of cosmic chronometers

We present new improved constraints on the Hubble parameter H(z) in the redshift range 0.15 < z < 1.1, obtained from the differential spectroscopic evolution of early-type galaxies as a function of redshift. We extract a large sample of early-type galaxies ( ∼ 11000) from several spectroscopic surveys, spanning almost 8 billion years of cosmic lookback time (0.15 < z < 1.42). We select the most massive, red elliptical galaxies, passively evolving and without signature of ongoing star formation. Those galaxies can be used as standard cosmic chronometers, as firstly proposed by Jimenez and Loeb (2002), whose differential age evolution as a function of cosmic time directly probes H(z). We analyze the 4000 Å break (D4000) as a function of redshift, use stellar population synthesis models to theoretically calibrate the dependence of the differential age evolution on the differential D4000, and estimate the Hubble parameter taking into account both statistical and systematical errors. We provide 8 new measurements of H(z), and determine its change in H(z) to a precision of 5–12% mapping homogeneously the redshift range up to z ∼ 1.1; for the first time, we place a constraint on H(z) at z≠0 with a precision comparable with the one achieved for the Hubble constant (about 5–6% at z ∼ 0.2), and covered a redshift range (0.5 < z < 0.8) which is crucial to distinguish many different quintessence cosmologies. These measurements have been tested to best match a ΛCDM model, clearly providing a statistically robust indication that the Universe is undergoing an accelerated expansion. This method shows the potentiality to open a new avenue in constrain a variety of alternative cosmologies, especially when future surveys (e.g. Euclid) will open the possibility to extend it up to z ∼ 2.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗